Hiring Practice: words of wisdom often aren't

I've read (and heard) all too many times so-and-so successful leader or entrepreneur explain how important it is to hire "the best people." The advice seems to suggest that if you "hire the best" then you will succeed.

Or perhaps it's more charitable to say that your odds of success will increase if you "hire the best."

Okay. That's fine. But it's not exactly penetrating nor insightful guidance. What might the alternative talent plan be? "Hire whatever you can find." Or perhaps, "Pursue the mediocre." Or my personal favorite, "How to win with a bunch of losers."

Isn't that the storyline of "The Bad News Bears" and approximately 20% of Hollywood pap? Don't we always cheer when the losers win?

But back to the point. The problem with people, even "the best" people, is that they are unwieldy. Sometimes it is the very best that are the most unwieldy.

Some individuals are like emotional rollercoasters, and your job might be to figure out how to ride the roller coaster without falling off. They could be extremely talented in their (your) field, but they are all over the emotional map without a guide.

Some people can't seem to get their points heard. They have great ideas but these ideas get lost in the noise of the other people who end up surrounding them (aka "the team").

Some people have been burned enough times that they simply don't want to take any chances. They've been taught by trial and error that taking chances leads to getting smacked.

I could go on for a while through the list of different types of people that are "the best" and who also happen to require a daily, five-handed juggling act to get them to be above average.

Instead, here's my thought for the week: a solid strategy backed by disciplined execution in the marketplace tends to make all kinds of people look like "the best."

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My mission has been to "inject transparency and simplicity into how projects are defined, approved and delivered." Why? ...
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My mission has been to "inject transparency and simplicity into how projects are defined, approved and delivered." Why? Transparency cures many forms of confusion. Simplicity makes the cure accessible to as many people as possible. Projects function as building blocks of the future. This blog is a discussion of the ideas and observations that infuse that mission.
Future States by Demian Entrekin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.Based on a work at it.toolbox.com.
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